Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
At 6:46 am, my eyelids flew open like someone had hit the garage door remote, and I launched out of bed with the grace of a startled squirrel.
Today is going to be busy—the kind of busy that makes your calendar sweat and your coffee file for overtime. I get chills just thinking about it… I thought about rolling over, going to sleep, and telling everyone that my electronic calendar committed hari kari!
- Gym at 8:30 am – 10:00 am
- Haircuts in Huntington Beach 11:30 am – 1:45 pm
- Lunch with Mary’sfinancial advisor 2:00 pm – 3:45 pm
- Mary has guests to go picking at 4:00 pm
- Paul heads to Elks for an interview at 4:30 pm
- Bob Z comes over for pre-board meeting activities at 5:30 pm
- Starlighters Board Meeting 6:00 pm
After our workout (meaning bullied and pummeled), we managed to waddle out of the Peak Performance Palace of Horror and went to the grocery store to get some goodies for tonight’s board meeting. Then we went home to lick our wounds. We had about 35 minutes to change clothes and head down the old Highway 55 to Huntington Beach for our six-week clipping.
Mary went in first, and then I followed. My “ears lowered” took about 9 minutes, and I was declared handsome. When Mary’s hair was under the dryer (yes, Mary was also), I went next door to the Black Trumpet and devoured two happy hour items and a glass of wine.
Blow Gabriel Blow!!!
The Black Trumpet Bistro Tapas & Wine Bar is a family-run Mediterranean restaurant in Huntington Beach, California, located at 7041 W. Yorktown Avenue. Run by Chef Dino Ferraro, it offers French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, and Moroccan small plates, full entrees, and a curated wine list.
I was recognized immediately as I entered their establishment. (They locked the safe and sent the women and children into the back room!)
Believe it or not, this is a stuffed jalapeño pepper — although at some point it clearly stopped being an appetizer and started applying for entrée status. The chef packed it with deer meat, cheese, and microgreens, and it was actually delicious. That said, any jalapeño that requires a knife and fork has officially gotten too big for its pepper pants.
The presentation was beautiful!
I was sitting at the bar when, all of a sudden, a beautiful young lady tapped me on the shoulder. I was all prepared to say, “Sorry, ma’am, but I am very happily married!” When I turned around, it was Paula. She is beautiful, but I was safe! Then 30 seconds later, Mary popped in from next door.
Ladies! Shall we order??
We found a table and placed our order. I ordered tacos, and below was their answer. It was amazingly good, but again, a tad difficult to eat since the taco shell was lettuce.
Tacos with a European flair!
Paula mentioned to the waiter that she saw some swimming attire he might like. Without further ado, she pulled out her iPhone and showed him the image. It frightened the guy so bad that he never returned to the table.
He never returned to our table (but I went home and bought three pairs from Amazon).
We departed the Black Trumpet at 3:05 pm and headed home, where I did a fly-by, meaning I dropped Mary off, and I headed to the Elks Lodge to attend the “investigation” of Alvaro Ruiz, whom I sponsored into the Elks. I knew him 20 years ago, and now he works with Robin every day, so I know he is a good guy!!
Robin was going to follow me home but decided to go home directly;y, she had a long day at work!
We all dropped a few bucks into the donation center box to assist the wayward woman!!
As the Silver Fox and I were flying up Highway 55 attempting to get home before the board members arrived, we got a call from Mary saying Bob was already there. I hit the Warp Drive Lever and further increased my chances of getting a speeding ticket.
As I arrived, the gang began showing up.
Jim, Betty, and Ed listened intently to Bob Z spewing forth a wealth of knowledge!
Will, Iris, and Vicky also participated in the meeting!
Bob conducted the meeting with skill!!
The maestro of mischief at work!
As everyone was departing, I remembered I again did NOT get a picture of us, so Vicky did the honors!
I was half in the bag by the end of the meeting!
Mary challenged me to finish off the shrimp, so I accepted like a champion. That curly little sucker never stood a chance—one gulp and he became seafood history.
NOW, I am ready for a small glass (or bottle) of wine!
When everyone finally left, we peeled ourselves out of our clothes and made a beeline for the oversized hot tub they call a pool, where the water was still a cozy 90 degrees. Mary handled bug patrol while I drifted around like an abandoned barge with no cargo, no captain, and absolutely no ambition. When we began to get pruney, we carefully extracted ourselves from the water and headed to bed.
9:00 pm, time to go inside!
The “Bug Lady” was worn out, as we had been on the move for the last thirteen hours without rest!
The Bug Lady is collecting specimens
I was so relaxed, I fell asleep on the way to the pillow!
